Betsy's Non-Bloghttp://booklikes.com/photo/crop/50/50/upload/avatar/9/e/9e20a9dc59083e6303db3e861686c66b.jpgBetsyhttp://Betsy.booklikes.com2018-02-18T04:45:53+00:00http://Betsy.booklikes.com/rssreview: Dakiti2016-06-20T00:00:00+01:002016-06-20T00:00:00+01:00http://Betsy.booklikes.com/post/1423871/dakitiBetsyhttp://Betsy.booklikes.comreview: The Witness2016-06-12T00:00:00+01:002016-06-12T00:00:00+01:00http://Betsy.booklikes.com/post/1423931/the-witnessBetsyhttp://Betsy.booklikes.com
This was a fairly standard Nora Roberts romantic suspense. The plot was moderately suspenseful, the sex was tasteful, and the romance was nice. The characters are well drawn, but somewhat familiar. Not her best, but not her worst, either. A quick enjoyable read.

[6/12/2016]I think I enjoyed this more the second time around. I was able to appreciate the complexity. And the characters.
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review: Birthright2016-06-09T00:00:00+01:002016-06-09T00:00:00+01:00http://Betsy.booklikes.com/post/1424015/birthrightBetsyhttp://Betsy.booklikes.com
This is one of Nora's best. Complex plot. Complex characters, though not the most likeable. Doesn't have the humor I really look for from her. But the story is a powerful one. How would you react if you suddenly learned that you were not who you thought you were, that you had been stolen from your birth family as an infant and sold to another family.

Nora Roberts is fascinated by families. A lot of her books are about family, at their basic level. What constitutes family, how they impact their members lives, how they can be created, broken, and repaired. Even her books as J.D. Robb are about family. I enjoy seeing all the different ways she can treat the family dynamics.
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review: Brotherhood in Death: In Death2016-06-01T00:00:00+01:002016-06-01T00:00:00+01:00http://Betsy.booklikes.com/post/1424421/brotherhood-in-death-in-deathBetsyhttp://Betsy.booklikes.com
A little derivative, and not a lot of mystery, but the procedural suspense is good, as usual. It kept me so engaged that I spent a whole day reading it, even skipping meals, which for me is unheard of.

[6/1/2016]Still enjoyable the second time around.
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review: Devoted in Death2016-05-30T00:00:00+01:002016-05-30T00:00:00+01:00http://Betsy.booklikes.com/post/1424311/devoted-in-deathBetsyhttp://Betsy.booklikes.com
A pretty good read, but not 5 stars. Not as much personal relationship development -- either Eve-Roarke or their friends -- as I like. A little bit more sex than usual. The crime part of the story was okay, but nothing really special. Some of the solutions seemed to me to be forced; they came out of thin air, not from the evidence. But I suppose that's often the case with Eve Dallas; many of her breakthroughs come from her instinct and intuition rather than evidence.

Still it was an enjoyable read and I'll probably read it again.

[6/4/2016]Second read. A totally engrossing story, even though I'd read it before, even though it has some failings. It still kept me turning pages, even hesitating to stop to eat. It made me realize how good Roberts is at telling a story. She know how to keep readers involved.
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review: The Obsession2016-05-15T00:00:00+01:002016-05-15T00:00:00+01:00http://Betsy.booklikes.com/post/1424121/the-obsessionBetsyhttp://Betsy.booklikes.com
It's been a month since I read this book and I can barely remember it. It was apparently fairly engrossing, since I read it in a day, and I remember something of a surprise toward the end, but I couldn't tell you what the plot was about.
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review: In Ashes Born (A Seeker's Tale From The Golden Age Of The Solar Clipper Book 1)2016-05-13T00:00:00+01:002016-05-13T00:00:00+01:00http://Betsy.booklikes.com/post/1424145/in-ashes-born-a-seeker-s-tale-from-the-golden-age-of-the-solar-clipper-book-1Betsyhttp://Betsy.booklikes.comThere isn't much action in this, but there is some conflict and a few real surprises. And of course, Ish deals with them both with his normal understated brilliance.

My only complaint is that this is definitely the first of a series. Not quite what I'd call a cliffhanger, but it leaves you strongly wanting more.

Also, if you haven't read the first Ish series, starting with [b:Quarter Share|2334538|Quarter Share (Golden Age of the Solar Clipper, #1)|Nathan Lowell|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1273808382s/2334538.jpg|2341114], I would strongly recommend that you read that series first. It's six books, but most of them go really quickly.
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review: Owner's Share2016-05-11T00:00:00+01:002016-05-11T00:00:00+01:00http://Betsy.booklikes.com/post/1423915/owner-s-shareBetsyhttp://Betsy.booklikes.com
This is the last of the Trader's Tales of Ishmael Horatio Wang, and it's the only one the contained real danger. Ishmael acquires a ship of his own, with a catch. He has to employ and "train" the daughter of his previous employer. But it turns out someone really wants them to fail and even die.

As usual, this is a well told tale. Worthy of many re-reads. I really wish I could look forward to more books about Ishmael.
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review: Captain's Share2016-05-09T00:00:00+01:002016-05-09T00:00:00+01:00http://Betsy.booklikes.com/post/1423916/captain-s-shareBetsyhttp://Betsy.booklikes.com
Who says you have to have battles and danger to have suspense? In this continuing saga of Ishmael Horatio Wang, our hero takes over as captain of the Agammemnon, the worst ship in the commercial fleet of the company. There is plenty of suspense as the unflappable Ishmael tries to figure out how to get his dysfunctional crew to work together and turn a profit.

An easy quick and very enjoyable read. However, in the Kindle edition which I read, there were more errors than are usual with Lowell's books. Errors that wouldn't be caught by spell check -- like a missing word, or and instead of any. Errors that cause a jarring break in the read. I was tempted to drop to 4 stars because of it, but I enjoyed the book too much and will definitely read it again.
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review: Full Share2016-05-08T00:00:00+01:002016-05-08T00:00:00+01:00http://Betsy.booklikes.com/post/1424165/full-shareBetsyhttp://Betsy.booklikes.com
my review of [b:Quarter Share|8538458|Quarter Share (Golden Age of the Solar Clipper, #1)|Nathan Lowell|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328339151s/8538458.jpg|2341114] for the series.

[6/1/2011]I enjoyed this third installment almost as much as the first two, but I thought the ending was somewhat contrived. It was too "convenient" and not very likely. But it's a minor objection. It did not diminish my anticipation of the next installment.
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review: Double Share2016-05-07T00:00:00+01:002016-05-07T00:00:00+01:00http://Betsy.booklikes.com/post/1424159/double-shareBetsyhttp://Betsy.booklikes.com
This is the fourth installment of the tales of Ishmael Wang and his adventures in interstellar commerce. Ish has graduated from the Academy and gets his first assignment as a junior officer on a trader. He is introduced to the dark side of shipboard life, where the top officers have absolute power and the inclination to use it to exploit those under their command. As usual, Ish works to find unexpected solutions. For a while I thought ... come on, he's young and inexperienced, how can we believe he'd be able to solve as many problems as he has in his short career. But then I realized, it does make sense. As the outsider, who did not grow up in the trader culture, he is able to see options without the blinders of expected behavior that familiarity creates. And he's just so charming that I want to believe it ... so I do.

A very enjoyable read, but it's best if you've read the preceding installments first.
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review: Half Share 2016-05-06T00:00:00+01:002016-05-06T00:00:00+01:00http://Betsy.booklikes.com/post/1424001/half-shareBetsyhttp://Betsy.booklikes.com
my review of [b:Quarter Share|8538458|Quarter Share (Golden Age of the Solar Clipper, #1)|Nathan Lowell|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328339151s/8538458.jpg|2341114] for the series.

[1/6/2011]Ishmael continues to make friends and a place for himself on the trader Lois McKendrick. He graduates from mess attendant to environmental tech, and continues passing tests like they were nothing. He and Pip also continue to expand their trading enterprise for themselves and other crew members. There are a few mild surprises. Just too short. As soon as I finished it, I started reading it again.
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review: Quarter Share 2016-05-05T00:00:00+01:002016-05-05T00:00:00+01:00http://Betsy.booklikes.com/post/1423996/quarter-shareBetsyhttp://Betsy.booklikes.com
No superheroes. No monster aliens. No space battles. Just an uncommon young man coping with the unexpected changes in his life struggling to make a place for himself aboard an interstellar freighter. Likable characters with surprising depth. A very enjoyable read.

[5/5/2016]This was probably my fourth read and I enjoyed it every bit as much as the first three times. Still couldn't put it down. This is totally character driven rather than plot driven. Although I found the plot plenty engrossing. I don't always need danger and excitement; ordinary life when it's different from mine can be just as interesting. But it's the characters that really keep me coming back. Ishmael is just one of the most likeable young men I've every come across. Likeable, and admirable.
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review: 'Til Death Do Us Part2016-04-22T00:00:00+01:002016-04-22T00:00:00+01:00http://Betsy.booklikes.com/post/1424324/til-death-do-us-partBetsyhttp://Betsy.booklikes.comreview: Fluency2016-03-07T00:00:00+00:002016-03-07T00:00:00+00:00http://Betsy.booklikes.com/post/1423858/fluencyBetsyhttp://Betsy.booklikes.com